


Potato Childern

by I_is_a_freak



Series: Thunderbirds are people too [4]
Category: Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds are go!
Genre: Gen, Pods as children, Scott is a worried big brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_is_a_freak/pseuds/I_is_a_freak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was John who finally named them. Gordon had been referring to them as "Virgil's potato children" since their first appearance. John caught wind of this on one of his visits to the island and named them after the potato shaped moons of Mars; Phobos and Deimos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Potato Childern

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to Nav and was created to cheer her up after a bad day. this is mainly the reason the Pods have a fansination with rocks

They made their first appearance trailing after Virgil like a pair of ducklings. Scott had not panicked (thank you very much Gordon) he was just concerned that the two were going be the last straw; that The Astronaut was going to shut them all down. Jeff had simply beamed and introduced them to Grandma.

The Pods first manifested to Virgil after a solo mission. It hadn't been particularly difficult, just a lot of hard work.

He had loaded the Pods back into the module and then sat on the open edge for a moment to look out over the landscape, savouring the view. Virgil saved a few images for later to try and reproduce in the art book Grandma had given him.

He had just decided to get going when something landed on his back with a sharp cry of "TWO!"

"What?" Virgil turned to look behind and found himself staring into the face of a three year old child. Twisting a little more to get them off his back so he could have a better look he saw there were two of them. 

Virgil recognised the pair instantly.

"Shit. Scott is not going to be happy."

~~~

Scott waited impatiently for Virgil in the hangar. Virgil had sent him a vague message of "can you meet me" which had sent Scott's processors whirring in alarm. Virgil was never vague unless he was worried about something.

He met Virgil at the base of his stairs. Straight away he spotted the problem. Two problems in fact. Trying to hide behind Virgil’s legs.

"Virgil-"

"Okay look before you go panicking-"

"Panicking? Virgil, those are children.” Scott gestured at the two small humanoids behind Virgil, “If they were older then maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal-"

"It's not a big deal, it’s just... more members of the family." Virgil looked defeated already. Which meant that he had a preference but wouldn’t fight Scott on his decision.

Scott buried his face in his hands, "This is it. This is the final fuse. It's blown. We are going to be melted down and made into keychains for the state of Florida."

Neither of them heard the footsteps of Jeff coming down to greet them, “Welcome back Virgil, and who are these little guys?”

He crouched down to get on eye level with the twins. Scott looked at Virgil who looked right back whilst trying to appear innocent.

“You know Virgil,” Jeff continued, not noticing the glances passed above his head, “we do have a policy for when we find orphan children in the field.”

“Um, sir, Mr Tracy, sir, I know the policy but I don’t think it applies here.”

“Ah. Does that have something to do with the capital A and B on their overalls?” Jeff pointed at the children, “in a font that looks too familiar to be a coincidence?” 

Scott sighed, of course their creator would notice straight away. 

Virgil crouched down to draw the pair from behind him and into his arms. Both of the children cuddled into Virgil but gave the occasional shy peek out.

Virgil nudged them, “Pods, this is Mr Jeff Tracy, the Astronaut. Say hello.” 

Scott watched the Astronaut’s reaction intently, waiting for any sign that would indicate Scott needed to protect his brothers. 

Jeff grinned when the Pods gave him a small wave and a quiet "hello" and Scott let out a small sigh of relief.

“I think,” Jeff said, standing up “That somebody needs to introduce these two to Grandma.”

~~~

Technically there were six pods on the island but only two personifications. In their yellow shirts and blue overalls, the twins always had that 'just come in from the garden' look no matter how many times they were cleaned. They had only a basic vocabulary, and never spoke in full sentences.

Between Virgil and Gordon it was worked out that the twins could understand most of what was being said, although they processed things better with careful phrasing. It was their basic programming that gave them the mindset of three year olds.

The Pods did however have the ability of what was attached to their shells when they were in child form. Which they discovered when the twins dug up the kitchen because Virgil left the Mole and the Bulldozer assembled after a particularly tiring mission. This incident led to a strict policy of dismantling the Pods before they reached the island. Virgil also got Brains to add an override program so Virgil could dismantle them remotely, just in case.

Grandma quickly became the Pods' favourite human. She spoiled them rotten, ordering children's books to read them in an effort to increase their vocabulary. They would cuddle up with Grandma on the couch with a cookie each and listen to her read. Grandma even knitted a special blanket for them that they kept in the hangar and pulled out for reading nights.

The twins had a strange love for Grandma's cookies and could be bribed to do nearly anything in exchange for one. Ever protective, Virgil was known to pull people aside and have words if he thought they were taking advantage of this.

Gordon was official Pod wrangler and the twins would follow all his orders. Virgil was the final word on everything; his orders overrode anyone else's. Everyone else's authority was variable but the Pods did not try to override anyone in the field. 

Virgil taught them to only appear on the island. Very occasionally he would set down after a good mission, far from human sight, to let them play under strict supervision. Virgil was constantly finding rocks in strange places in the Modules after such excrusions.

It was John who finally named them. Gordon had been referring to them as "Virgil's potato children" since their first appearance. John caught wind of this on one of his visits to the island and named them after the potato shaped moons of Mars; Phobos and Deimos.

~~~

"STACKS ON SCOTT!"

Scott was walking through the lounge when he heard the yell and suddenly found himself with an arm full of small giggling child.

"Hey Phobos, where's Deimos?" Scott adjusted A in his arms when he heard a scream and felt someone jump on his back. Stumbling at the unexpected weight, he fell to the ground.

The twins jumped up and then lay across his back, chirping happily "Scott, Scott, Scott."

Gordon's feet appeared in Scott's vision, "Well done Twins, you got it right. Time to get off."

Scott groaned, "Gordon, there has got to be a better way of teaching them our alternate designations."

"Probably but this is more fun. It's interactive and encourages them to learn." Gordon grinned has he helped Scott up, “Besides, do you know how many rocks it took me to get them to stop calling me Yellow? They’ve settled on Big Pod which I think I can live with.”

The Pods had adopted their own versions of designations for the Thunderbirds and got confused with different forms. Gordon had taken it upon himself to teach the Pods by coming up with the game of STACKS ON. The twins had to identify who the person was and whether or not they could be jumped on. Body tackles for the 'Birds and gentle leg hugs for the humans. Gordon seemed to have fun watching people get toppled by the weight of the two Pods.

"There you are," Grandma was walking up the stairs with a baking tray, "These are fresh out of the oven."

Scott and Gordon made faces at each other as the twins shrilled and ran to sit on the couch; there would be no cookies if they were running around being naughty.

"Cookies!"

"These are just a few for now,” Grandma smiled at them, “I have some more in the oven for reading time tonight."

Grandma placed the tray between the two and patted their heads before heading back to the kitchen.

The twins started sorting out the cookies between themselves. When they were satisfied they started eating.

It was probably the one thing Scott couldn't understand about the Pods; their fascination with Grandma's cookies. While the 'Birds could eat human food, there something about the process of replication of the food on Tracy Island that they couldn't stomach. The Pods on the other hand shovelled it down and would hoard it at times.

"Oh no, they are going to be on a sugar high for the rest of the day aren't they?" Virgil's voice was resigned. Scott and Gordon turned to see him walking into the room with Brains and M.A.X.

"It will be fine," Gordon waved him off, "I'm going to take them for a swim later."

M.A.X rolled over to the tray and tried to take a cookie but the twins stopped him, "No! Trade!"

M.A.X stopped in confusion, then had a moment of inspiration and rolled off.

Brains chuckled, "Virgil, I can see that your training has worked."

"Well I couldn't have them running around being brats and taking whatever they wanted."

In the beginning the Pods had gotten into everything, taking things they thought were fascinating and hoarding them in the modules. Virgil had made an effort to teach them that not everything they touched was theirs and if they wanted something they had to give up something of theirs in return. Grandma help him enforce the rule by making the twins clean in return for cookies.

M.A.X rolled back into the room with a rock in his claw.

"M.A.X, no," Virgil said, "They have too many rocks as is!"

The twins ignored Virgil and took the rock off M.A.X for inspection, "Rock!"

M.A.X chirped at them and after a moment Phobos put the rock in his front pocket as Deimos handed over a cookie.

Virgil just sighed and walked over to them, "Just remember if I find any rocks outside of your shelves they go in the bin."

The twins nodded and smiled up at him. "Confirmed TWO!"

Virgil smiled back and ruffled their hair, "Good boys."

“And we are still working on Virgil’s name.” Gordon whispered to Scott.

"Oh no, did Grandma make cookies again?" everyone looked up to see Alan enter the room.

Scott smiled at her, “It’s okay, I think Grandma is expecting the Pods to eat them all."

Alan sighed, "Thank goodness."

Out of the corner of his eye Scott could see Gordon smirk.

"STACKS ON VIRGIL!"

Cookies abandoned, the twins hopped up and then jumped on Virgil with a cry.

Virgil just grabbed one in each arm and stood up, "Seriously Gordon, I carry these two for fun sometimes."

Gordon then took a running leap onto Virgil's back. 

Virgil laughed, "Oh no, a small Thunderbird and two pods what ever shall I do?" 

Virgil rubbed his face in Phobos's hair and gave his head a kiss. Phobos grinned and ducked his face into Virgil's shirt.

"STACKS ON!" Alan cried as he jumped at Virgil.

The addition of largest Thunderbird was too much even for the Heavy Transporter as Virgil's legs buckled and he went down laughing.

Scott smiled at the pile of his family. For the first time since they decided show themselves, he felt at peace.

~~~

The twins may have only had basic programming but they noticed things. They noticed that TWO was upset about something. They noticed that Big Pod was saddened by something, that he didn't smile as much as he used to. They noticed that the humans leaked lubricant out of their faces sometimes and they noticed that Grandma did all three.

Something was different, but they didn't know what that something was. 

Normally Big Pod would take them to the beach every second day but he hadn't for two weeks. Normally Red would play with them in the silo but they hadn't seen her at all for two weeks. TWO still cleaned them but it took longer and his hugs were tighter.

M.A.X explained that The Astronaut had been unexpectedly decommissioned.

The Pods gathered up their favourite rocks and gave one each to everyone on the island to try to make them happier. The biggest and shiniest was for TWO. The small smooth oval for Blue. The rock with the spiral shell stuck in it for Big Pod. The glittery one they gave to Space when he visited. They kept a pointy shard ready to give to Red when they saw her next.

For The Engineer they found a lump of metal that had been melted and cooled around some concrete. The Fighter got a shiny black rock from the beach.

They argued over the best rock for Grandma. Eventually they decided on a jagged bolt of glassy rock that had formed when lightning had struck sand. When they presented it to her Grandma swept them into a tight hug and leaked all over them. The Pods just hugged her back and went into rest mode on her after she fell asleep. They were still hugging her when they woke to find TWO standing over them with a blanket. He just put a finger to his lips and tucked the blanket around them, so they went back to rest mode.

The twins spent more time hanging around Grandma after that. They had noticed that if they left her for too long she would get sad. Their vocabulary expanded as they helped Grandma to "CLEAN NOT LEAN", following her around with a pair of tiny dusting cloths. They emptied a bottom cupboard of plates to store more rocks that they thought Grandma would like. She thanked them for each one and they helped her to keep the cupboard tidy.

She started baking cookies again, much to their delight.

With Grandma's help they convinced Big Pod to take them to the beach again where they helped him pick the best seashells.

They helped TWO with cleaning their shells. It made the job take twice as long but he seemed to laugh more.

Space had taken his rock with him in the elevator when he returned to his shell.

The Fighter start hanging around the silos and hangars more. She started playing hide and seek with them but she always won. The twins could never keep quiet for very long and would rush out of their hiding places to hug her.

Red eventually came out of hiding and told everyone that he had a new designation. The twins where happy that they could finally give him his rock.

The Engineer had thrown himself into finishing a big project and M.A.X was helping him.

The Twins went out on missions with TWO and Big Pod and collected rocks and for them life moved on.


End file.
